As has been a recurring theme for UNM this season, this game was a tale of two halves. However, rather than the Lobos getting out to a slow start against Oral Roberts, the Lobos jumped out to an early lead with one of the best halves they’ve played in recent memory before allowing the Golden Eagles to claw their way back into the game in the second half. The Lobos were able to hold them off though, eventually ending the game with a 91-75 advantage.

Game Recap

The Lobos started off this game by missing their first four shots, which didn’t exactly inspire confidence after sluggish first-half performances against USC and Nicholls State, but then something clicked. Namely, the combination of Cullen and Elijah. The two guards scored 20 of the team’s first 22 points, including a pair of three pointers for each of them that were assisted by the other. After that stretch, and a Tim Williams layup, the Lobos found themselves up 24-9 only 7 minutes into the game. At that point, the expectation easily could have been that the Lobos were going to slow down, but they instead kept their foot on the gas. At the end of the half, the Lobos had a 52-27 advantage, thanks in large part to their 8-11 shooting from beyond the arc and their stellar defense against the Golden Eagles.

However, despite the large lead, the Lobos had a shaky start to the second half, allowing their huge lead to drop down to 8 points and including a stretch where they allowed Oral Roberts to go on a 12-0 run in the span of 49 seconds. They didn’t fully recover until about eight and a half minutes left in the game, when Cullen made a layup to start a 10-0 run that pushed the lead back up to 18 points. From that point on, the lead never dipped below 13 and the Lobos were able to ride out the rest of the game for the 91-75 win.

Players of the Game

For each game, I’m choosing my top three players of the game and giving them points (3 for first, 2 for second, and 1 for third). We’ll keep track of the points all season.

1. Tim Williams (12 points on the season): I keep going back and forth between Tim and Cullen for my top player of the game, so I might change my mind about this later today. Anyway, Tim got the edge in my book because he was so solid the whole game. He had 8 points and 7 rebounds in the first half and 15 points and 5 rebounds in the second, which gave him the great stat line of 23 points and 12 rebounds. That’s his third straight double-double and he’s now averaging 17.5 ppg and 9.2 rpg. That’s the sort of stat line that would win him all-conference honors. He’s also been such a steady presence down low all season, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that he was integral to the team righting the ship when they were having trouble in the second half.
2. Cullen Neal (6 points on the season): Cullen had a tremendous first half and a good second half, leading to a career-best 29 points. In the first half, he managed 19 points on 7-11 shooting, including 3-4 from downtown, and added 4 assists. His second half wasn’t quite as good, but he was still effective, scoring 10 points and dishing out 3 more assists. The biggest issue he had in this game was handling the press, but it was all-in-all a great game.
3. Elijah Brown (11 points on the season): This ranking is basically entirely due to his first half performance, which was nothing short of great. In that half, he scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting, 4-6 from three, with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. The second half, he wasn’t nearly as big of a factor, only chipping in 1 point, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, but he was still active and played good defense. Regardless, a 15/6/5/2 line is still pretty excellent and the pair of him and Cullen have proven to be a dangerous combo.

Scattered Thoughts

• There seems to be a general thought about the Lobos that they aren’t very good at defending the three and haven’t been for some time (probably because of flashbacks to the Harvard game), but in the six games they’ve played this season, only USC has shot above 30% from range. Oral Roberts as a team is shooting 41.1% from three for the season, so holding them to 29.4% is actually a nice accomplishment.
• The backup point guard spot continues to be interesting to me, as Jordan Hunter keeps looking better and more confident each time he plays, but Tim Jacobs is now coming off of one of his best games as a Lobo. One of the main knocks on Jacobs last season is that he is was a poor free throw shooter so he was a liability to be in late in the game, which was fair, as he only shot 54.9% from the line. However, this year in a very small sample, he’s shooting 71.4%. That, combined with his experience and ability to handle the press, will likely keep him as the primary backup for the time being.
• The lack of depth in the frontcourt is already starting to show a bit, as Joe is a little up-and-down and Nikola is still figuring things out, which leaves Tim W. and Obij to play a lot of minutes. That’s okay for the most part, as both guys can handle playing 30-35 minutes a game, but if either guy gets into foul trouble, things can go south for the Lobos in a hurry. The next game will be a huge test for the Lobo bigs, so all four of will need to be ready for the challenge.

Up Next

The Lobos head to West Lafayette, IN to take on Purdue, who are currently ranked #11 in the nation. On paper, this will be the toughest game that the Lobos play all season, but that also means that it is an opportunity for the team to collect a huge win.